Loan, auction and eviction: Bitter plot fight threatens woman's home

What began nearly 40 years ago as a simple loan agreement has grown into a bitter legal dispute that now threatens to leave one woman homeless, with property worth Sh15 million at stake.

Wilson Leitich borrowed Sh1.3 million from the Industrial and Commercial Development Corporation (ICDC). To secure the loan, he charged a piece of land at Salgaa trading centre — Plot Number 5, Petrol Service Station–Rongai Junction, according to documents seen by The Standard.

But Leitich failed to repay the loan in full, prompting the sale of the plot. In 2005, the plot was sold through a public auction and transferred to Anne Wambui.

For years, the matter appeared settled — until Wambui went to court, accusing Leitich’s daughter, Florence, of unlawfully taking over part of her land.

Wambui told the Chief Magistrate’s Court in Nakuru that Florence had occupied a portion of her plot during the chaos that followed the 2007–2008 post-election violence. She said Florence referred to the occupied land as Plot Number 36A, a number Wambui insisted did not exist.

“There is no Plot 36,” Wambui testified, though she admitted she did not know the exact size of her land.

Florence, now facing eviction, denied trespassing. She maintained that she rightfully owned Plot 36A, where she had built business premises.She told the court that Plot Number 5 did not exist and dismissed claims that she had colluded with anyone to create a new plot number.

In September 2020, Principal Magistrate Bernard Mararo ruled that the dispute could not be resolved without involving the Nakuru County Council land surveyor and Land Registrar.

Both women, the court noted, held ownership documents issued by the same authorities and had been paying rates.“It would be unfair to make a determination without their input,” ruled Mararo, directing that the land registrar and surveyor be joined to the case within 60 days.

But Wambui was dissatisfied and appealed to the Environment and Lands Court, arguing that the magistrate had failed to resolve the dispute and had issued orders neither party had sought.

Justice Anthony Ombwayo overturned the lower court’s decision.

He ruled that the magistrate had erred by failing to find that Florence had encroached on Wambui’s land and by ordering the inclusion of the land registrar and surveyor at the judgment stage.

Justice Anthony Ombwayo ruled in favour of Wambui in the long-running land dispute, noting that the plots had been allocated by the County Council of Nakuru but were neither surveyed nor registered under the Land Registration Act.

He said the trial magistrate erred by involving the land registrar and surveyor at judgment stage, calling it a misdirection. The court set aside earlier orders and gave Wambui judgment, directing that structures erected by Florence on Plot No. 5 Petrol Service Station–Rongai Junction be removed within 90 days, failing which Wambui could seek eviction.

Florence has since appealed to the Court of Appeal, claiming Plot 36A as her lawful property.

Her father, 90-year-old former Nakuru County Council chairman Wilson Leitich, has asked the government to intervene.

He said he acquired the land while in office, subdivided it and intended to build petrol station. He gave a portion to Florence and used another as collateral for the Sh1.3 million ICDC loan. Logging bans later collapsed his sawmill, leaving him unable to service the loan, leading to the auction of Plot 5. “I just heard that the plot was sold through an auction and didn’t mind following up since I had arrears,” he said